Cyprus to benefit from e-commerce directives

Businesses and consumers in Cyprus look set to benefit from two new cross-border e-commerce Directives proposed by the European Commission.

According to a Commission announcement on Wednesday, one directive is connected to digital content and the other to goods.

“Together they will ensure that the same key contract law rules apply across the EU for online purchases of goods and the supply of digital content,” the Commission said.

Once the Directives are adopted, businesses in Cyprus will be able to supply digital content and sell goods online to consumers throughout the EU, based on the same set of contract law rules.

This will increase legal certainty and create a business friendly environment, the Commission said.

“When supplying digital content, Cypriot businesses will avoid the cost of legal fragmentation which is emerging due to the lack of EU wide rules and the fact that some Member States are starting to put into place specific national legislations. When selling goods, businesses will save the costs of adapting to the contract law rules of every Member State they wish to sell in,” the announcement noted.

Common rules across the EU are expected to reduce contract law related consumer concerns. More consumers will be encouraged to start buying online from other EU countries, thus creating a market of up to 70 million online cross-border buyers.

This will be particularly beneficial for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who need to build their customer-base and often need to go beyond their home market.

The move will also be beneficial for consumers.

As noted by the Commission: “Consumers in Cyprus will have access to offers from more traders across the EU and will therefore benefit from a wider choice of products, at more competitive prices. Consumers will have specific rights with a high level of protection when accessing digital content and buying goods online. For digital content, the rules will apply regardless of whether consumers pay with money or give their personal data to the supplier in order to access the content (e.g. by simply registering)”.